Tuesday, October 1, 2013

A new month (finally!)

I am REALLY excited that this is the first day of a new month! I generally try to be content in this present moment, instead of continually looking ahead to what is next to make me happier or somehow make my life better; but I'll admit, last month was a challenge. It was our first month of spending more time apart than together and Jason's first month of teaching at a new school with a very challenging class (topped with the school losing two teachers in the first month), plus the unsettling events: the earthquake, a terrible murder of a local woman, then getting flooded out of our home; and the exhaustion of moving THREE times in one week.

But, through it all I have been reminded that God provides and protects.

After getting flooded and moving back into our original apartment, we were given an unexpected gift. A young Israeli woman who had been living in the same complex as us while she volunteered at AMA left early. Her apartment was paid for and empty, so after three nights at our original place we were able to move into her apartment and got the gift of 10 free days of housing while we looked for a permanent place. Pretty awesome, right? Unfortunately, our permanent place is being very illusive. We've now paid for another month here while we keep looking -- several people have asked why we don't just stay in this spot. It is a beautiful spot, but besides being over our budget, it is expensive for this area for what you actually get inside the place...so the hunt continues.

As we go through this unexpected process I am reminded how God wants me to be heaven focused, remembering that my home is really not on this earth. As much as I want to feel settled and secure wherever I am, being unsettled makes me rely on Him more and look with great anticipation toward my heavenly home.

That doesn't mean that I'm not looking forward to see what God has in store for us this month -- it feels like we have a fresh, clean start. Plus, Jason got his first paycheck yesterday - our first paycheck in six months which is quite a thrill. This Friday is a Panajachel holiday (sort of like carnival for this town) so Jason gets a day off of school. Woo-hoo! We'll see what adventuring we can get up to.

In the meantime, we are enjoying the beauty and culture of where we get to live -- here are some of my favorite photos from the past week.

A beautiful evening at the lake --

How people get to nearby villages -- taxi-trucks. A tarp goes over the top when it rains.

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How we got here ... with a couple babies!

We first met on July 7, 2006. We'd both quit our jobs and gotten rid of nearly all our possessions. We had joined the Peace Corps and were heading to the Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific. We thought we were prepared for whatever lay ahead ... neither of us had a clue.

Just over 10 months after we first met, we were MARRIED!Since then our adventures have included:

- a year in New York City, living in a Harlem brownstone apartment- going off-the-grid & into a tent-cabin on tiny Angaur island in Palau- living with a bunch of teenagers in Shanghai, China while working as dormitory parents

- off-the-grid again & into a barn on 400 forested acres in Vermont

- at the base of volcanos in beautiful Panajachel, Guatemala

And now ... on the hunt for a new career, we find ourselves in IDAHO!

We love to experience this great big world and hope you will join us for the journey!